Race 3 - January 29: Women

Vos takes Cyclo-cross World Championships at the line

For the third year in a row, the Women's Cyclo-cross World Championship has
been won in front of a home crowd: in 2004, Laurence Leboucher triumphed in
Pont-Chateau in France; last year, when German Hanka Kupfernagel soloed to a
win in St. Wendel; and now in 2006 as 18 year-old Marianne Vos of the Netherlands
out sprinted 31 year-old Kupfernagel at the line in Zeddam.

For much of the 40-minute race Kupfernagel, Vos, and pre-race favourite Daphny
Van Den Brand (Ned) held a comfortable lead over the rest of the 43 woman field.
But when Van Den Brand flatted with two laps to go and had to stop in the pits
for a fresh bike, Kupfernagel upped the pace and left herself with only Vos
to contend with. Kupfernagel led onto the finishing straight and kept the pace
high but just didn't have enough gas in the tank to fend off a perfectly timed
come around sprint by Vos.

After pre-riding the course, the women had to have known what kind of race
was in store; temperatures over night stayed several degrees below zero setting
up a fast, solid racecourse that would favour good starting positions, technical
skill and power riding. So it was no surprise when the three favoured riders
got away together in the first half of the first lap. "We knew we had to start
fast," Vos said after the race. "It wasn't a planned tactic for Daphny and I
to be with Hanka but it worked out well that were two Dutch in the lead group."

Of the three members of breakaway, Van Den Brand was the most likely to win
if the trio remained together to the end; the 2004 World Champion has won most
of her head-to-head battles against Kupfernagel in World Cup racing this season
and Vos was, well, 18. Thus, Kupfernagel was the next most likely winner; the
three-time and defending World Champion had the experience and strength to win.
But fate played its wild cards on Sunday.

Wild card one was played when Van Den Brand, who had policed the front of the
lead group and successfully tested her ability to attack on a couple of key
sections of the course (a 40-step staircase and through some tricky off-camber
downhills), flatted on lap four.

Wild card two was played when Vos made the tactical decision following Van
Den Brand's flat to sit on Kupfernagel's wheel. "Because there was a chance
that Daphny could get back to us," she said, "there was no reason for me to
ride in front of Hanka."

Hanka immediately lifted her tempo to keep Van Den Brand, who lost 15 seconds
in the bike transfer, from gaining back any ground. "I knew Marianne wouldn't
take the lead but I figured it would be better to have to fight only one Dutch
woman and not two," Kupfernagel said about her decision to make the move.

With Kupfernagel pressing the pace, former World Champion Van Den Brand settled
in to preserve her spot on the podium. "I didn't think it was possible to come
back so I decided to not take any risks and focus on third place."

The two leaders, assured of their gap, settled into a rhythm entering the
final lap. Both Vos and Kupfernagel said they had studied the previous two finishes
at 2006 Worlds. In both the elite junior and U23 espoir men's race, the leaders
held slim margins on the final straight for their wins. So even though Kupfernagel
and Vos traded the front of the race a couple of times in the final lap, Kupfernagel
wanted the front for the finish.

Descending the dirt farm road leading to the finishing straight, Kupfernagel
kept the held the throttle open. Vos tucked in behind and fought to hold the
defending champion's wheel at all costs. "When I looked at the U23 race, I knew
that even ten meters was a sure loss so I had to be as close as possible out
of the last turn."

Out of the last turn, Kupfernagel says she knew her attempt to win was doomed.
"Vos was very, very close. I just didn't have enough room."

"I was in the right position," Vos said.

The win caps an impressive young career for the Dutch phenom. But not unexpected;
In 2005, she won the European Elite cyclo-cross championship, Dutch Elite cyclo-cross
as well as Dutch road and mountain bike championships in the junior division.
Before that, she won the junior road World Championship.

Amazingly, Vos is still active in four sports; road racing, cyclo-cross, mountain
biking and speed skating. With such a brilliant future, reporters in the post-race
press conference asked her whether she had her mind set on a future in road
or 'cross racing. "I have no intention of choosing," she answered with a grin.
"All I'm going to think about is to race a couple more 'cross races with my
World Championship jersey this year, then take a break and start getting ready
for the big races on the road."

Race Notes

There were eight North Americans and three British women in Sunday's championship
race. The best result of the group was put up by Helen Wyman (GBR) who finished
just behind fourth-placed Mirjam Melchers-Van Poppel. The top American result
came at the hands of veteran Ann Knapp; a not-bad ninth place for the 'retired,'
non-serious rider from the Pacific Northwest. Canadian Lyne Bessette is a strong
enough rider that with a better starting position, she might have picked up
third place when Van Den Brand lost time to her flat, but considering she's
been chasing away a flu for a week and started mid-pack start on a course that
absolutely favoured good starting positions, her 10 place shows real promise.